Keith Tabatznik has expressed his desire to resume his role as Bermuda's assistant coach for their World Cup qualifying tussle with Trinidad and Tobago, stressing: "You don't change a winning team".

Bermuda Football Association (BFA) hired the US Olympic Development Programme (ODP) coach on an "honorarium" basis until the end of March to help prepare the national team for the second leg against Cayman Islands.

With that mission accomplished, Tabatznik now wants in on the next assignment and believes he can assist in plotting the Gombey Warriors' passage past Caribbean powerhouse Trinidad in June.

A lifelong friend of head coach Keith Tucker, Tabatznik is under the impression he will receive the 'green-light' to carry on his national team duties and is adamant Bermuda can upset the odds by beating the Soca Warriors.

"I'm under the impression I'll be involved in preparing the team for the Trinidad and Tobago matches," said the US coach. "I'm very keen to be involved and thoroughly enjoyed my time down in Cayman with the squad. We got the right result and I thought we made vast strides forward between the first and second leg.

"I think the relationships between the coaching staff and players is very strong and I believe it would be a mistake to change things midway through a World Cup qualifying campaign. I was very pleased with the contribution I was able to make, particular in the scouting of Cayman."

Tabatznik is no stranger to preparing teams labelled as 'underdogs' from his time coaching Georgetown University in the US. He believes Bermuda's players must buy into the belief that they can pull off victory and is confident they possess the attacking armoury to plunder a vital away goal in the first leg.

"For most of my time at Georgetown we were underdogs," said Tabatznik, who works as an expert analyst for Fox Soccer Channel covering college games. "Trinidad offer our players a great challenge and the coaches need to get them to buy into that challenge and create an environment of belief.

"I believe Bermuda can progress to the next stage. Trinidad have some very strong individuals, especially in attack with the likes of Stern John and Kenwyne Jones.

"But we have the players to cause their defence problems and I'm confident we will score in Trinidad. Our biggest challenge will be trying to stop their attack."

Having worked at close quarters with Bermuda's cream of the crop for over a month, Tabatznik said he had been "pleasantly surprised" by the technical level of the players.

However, he believes age, rather than talent and ability, will block their progression to the professional level.

"The talent is definitely higher than I thought it would be," he said. "There's some great technical ability and plenty of pace in the team. I think a lot of the guys are a little too old to become professionals now, say in the MLS, although the likes of Keishen Bean and Tyrell Burgess are still young enough to have something to offer.

"I'm also a big admirer of Sammy DeGraff and I believe he is starting to come out of his shell. He really rose to the occasion against Cayman and I was delighted for him."

"But I do feel that week-in, week-out the players aren't challenged enough in the domestic league and pick up bad habits. That's why Bermuda Hogges are a fantastic development."

Tabatznik's relationship with Tucker dates back to when the pair locked horns as players in the college ranks, before becoming rival coaches at Howard University and Georgetown University, respectively. He has also previously worked with Bermuda assistant coach Kenny Thompson, who he remembers as a "superb player", and is also familiar with national team defender Kevin Richards from his time at Notre Dame University.

"I've known Keith (Tucker) for many years. He joined me as my assistant in the US Olympic Development Programme for two separate stints.

"I also knew Kenny Thompson previously. He played for me at Greek Americans. I was involved in the first tryouts for the MLS and Kenny came down. He was a superb player and I've no doubt he could have played in the MLS back then, but he had work commitments. Kevin Richards also played for Notre Dame University against my Georgetown team, so he knows my methods."